West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-05-06
A WILD NIGHT
HOW THE NEWS or LEES SUR
RENDER WAS RECEIVED. / 5 =

The Story Told by n Member OF the
Army of the Conference.-The Boss
Among the Mountains of East Ten
nessee.
twas near the middle of April. Darkness
had settled down over the great bivouac.
The bugles had sounded the tattoo. Inc
erizzled veterans who had been squattlng
around the camp fires, talking over the
scenes Of the past and wondering when the
war would be OVERHEAD knocked the ashes
from their pipes and crawled within their
little spupr tents, or their shelters made OF
boughs. All was still save the measured
tread OF the sentinels as they passed TO and
fro upon their beats around the sleeping
army.
Suddenly there came rafting through the
clear night air a sound that aroused every
soldier in an Instant We had often heard 1t
before and it always meant business. 1t was
the long roll at division headquarters. And
such a. long roll as it wasl The drummer
handled his sticks as il he was pounding for
his very life. When soldier hears the long
roll he never waits for orders It is an alarm
that has but one meaning. His duty is to get
straps on and take his place in line, and to
be very lively about it, too. The drums at
the headquarters Of each brigade took up the
sound and the piercing blasts Of bugles joined
in the chorus. Startled from their sleep, the
soldiers kicked Off their blankets, and it
wasn't a minute until the companies were
formed, every man with his accouterments
buckled on and his musket at shoulder" in
response TO the @Fall imp of the orderly SER
geants. Again drums and bugles sounded,
the companies marched to the color line and
the regiments were ready for action. 1t was
a moonleSs night, and the darkness OF the oak
woods was but feebly dispelled here and there
by the Pickering light Of the smoldering fires.
MOMENTS OF ANXIOUS SUSPENSE.
Every ear was strained TO catch the rattle
of shots on the picket line. No sound WIS
heard save the hustle of the assembling troopf
and the voices Of the officers as they gave tn
necessary commands. 1t was one Of those
moments OF anxious suspense that test tho
courage Of the bravest veteran.
An orderly from brigade headquarters
dashed up and handed paper to the colonel
Of our regiment a bit Of candle was found,
and by its suffering light the colonel glanced
at the message Jumping about four Feet
into the air he gave one wild, piercing yell
that an Apache chief might strive in vain to
rival We all thought for the moment that
he had gone crazy. When he came down
he handed the paper to the adJutant,
letting of another yell, and told him
TO read it to the regiment. It was q copy
of telegram from Secretary Stanton
announcing the surrender Of Lees army. The
scene that followed no words can adequately
describe. The colonel and adjutant swung
their hats and danced around and fairly
howled Every officer and soldier in the regi-
ment, and in every other regiment, did the
same thing. We had heard shouting and
yelling before, and had done our full share of
it on occasion, but never anything like that
which greeted the reading Of this dispatch.
From one end of the camp to the other the
confusion and uproar were prodigious. Men
laughed and danced and Rugged one another,
and rent the Dir with every kind of noise pos
sible to the human voice pitched in its highest
KEY. 1t was as if the inmates of q score of
lunatic aSylums had been turned loose in those
Tennessee woods.
When the yelling had in some degree sub
sided, from sheer vocal exhaustion, the sol
diers began to cast about for other means to
make a noise. 1t didn't matter what it was
the more discordant the better, only so that
it helped to swell the awful din. Meanwhile
all the brass bands were playing, though
nobody could tell what the tunes were; the
shrek of flies and rattle Of drums were heard
on every hand, and tie buglers strained to
make themselves heard until it seemed as il
they would blow their heads off. Then the
artillery opened Gun after gun joined in
the mighty chorus until every battery in the
corps was sending forth its thunders to echo
among the mountains. Regiment after regi-
ment began 70 fire their muskets The men
took their cartridges from their boxes, poured
in the powder, Tammed down the paper for
wadding, and blszed away The balls they
threw upon the ground; there was no further
use for them.
A LITERAL PANDEMoNIUM
Perhaps You can imagine the din, but it's
more likely you can't. When tho soldiers
had shot away their cartridges they hunted
up all the camp kettles and tin pans, and beat
them furiouSly with sticks and stones, stin
yelling and shouting as fast as they could
gather breath enough to do so. The camp
was literal pandemonium. Heaped with
wood the fires blazed high, and the forest was
aglow with light
Men did all sorts Of grotesque and ridicu-
lous things. They climbed trees and yelled
through the branches; they made heroic
speeches from logs and stumps; they turned
their clothes inside out; they rode one an
other on poles-they did everything that
great fertility of resource in this direction
could suggest. At the headquarters of our
brigade horse bucket full of eggnog was
made, and the general and his staff INDUCED
in copious ibations. After several rounds"
they sailed forth and seized the instruments
Of the band, and formed for a parade through
the camp. The general headed the process
sion with the bass drum, which he pounded
so furiouSly that he broke in one Of the
heads. The staff officers, with horns, blew
the most wildly discordant blasts As they
marched hither and thither, regimental and
company officers and hundreds Of soldiers
fell in behind the general and his staff, until
the column Of bowling lunatics was quarter
of a mile long.
Four years of toiling and suffering such as
others know not, Of weary marches and vigils
by day and by night, through fierce heat and
beating storm; of facing the pitiless bullets
and screaming shell, amid awful scenes Of
death and human anguish; long months and
years that had thinned regiments Of 1000 to
1OO-all were past, the end had come, and be-
fore the eyes of these Scared and war worn